# Dietary ellagic acid inhibiting gastrointestinal pathogens by modulation of microbiome-metabolite-immune axis

## TL;DR

Ellagic acid, found in fruits and nuts, helps restore gut health by boosting good bacteria and reducing harmful pathogens.

## Contribution

The study reveals ellagic acid's novel role in modulating gut microbiota and immune responses to combat antibiotic-induced infections.

## Key findings

- Ellagic acid promotes gut microbiota recovery and increases microbial diversity.
- It activates Gpr41 and Gpr43 via SCFAs to inhibit the NF-ĸB pathway.
- The compound reduces pathogen overgrowth and offers an alternative to antibiotics.

## Abstract

Antibiotic-induced depletion of the gut microbiota facilitated the colonization of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) in the gastrointestinal tract, and then increased patients' susceptibility to secondary infections. Ellagic acid, a major constituent of fruits and nuts, showed various bioactivities except for antibacterial. Interestingly, it promoted the recovery of gut microbiota, enhanced microbial diversity and stimulated the proliferation of probiotic gut microbes, and then ameliorated the overgrowth of pathogens in vivo in our experiment. Moreover, ellagic acid activated Gpr41 and Gpr43 mainly by promoting the production of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) such as acetic acid and propionic acid to inhibit the NF-ĸB signaling pathway. Then the dietary supplement with ellagic acid might treat infected gut to avoid antibiotic-associated intestinal diseases, and the finding also provided a novel strategy for exploring antibacterial agent besides screening in vitro.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13659-025-00584-x.